1. The initial exercise of transferring all my Next Actions, Someday/Maybes and Projects from Outlook to paper provided a great opportunity to really think about my commitment to each of the items I was transferring, particularly those that had been on the list for a while. Essentially I committed to myself that if I was going to spend the time and effort writing and maintaining this item on paper then then I’d better be planning on actually striking it off sometime too.
Define your life projects you want to develop yourself and achieve results. Mine are customers, family, finances, professional development, soft skill development, blogging, and few more. Everything that falls beyond these categories (life projects) does not deserve your attention, energy, and time.
Read the whole thing, as he describes how to use Outlook 2007 to manage these projects.
When I was first introduced to GTD some five years ago, I was immediately drawn to David Allen’s appreciation of “the right tool”. It was as if someone out there was as quirky as me, caring about such little things as the kind of pencil you used or the way in which you organized your PDA. Amazing!
Since then, I’ve been mindful of a number of good articles on GTD-related tools. These include:
I recently discovered a phenomenon called “tool boredom” and you’ll probably know what I’m talking about. Your cell phone was so cool and then you saw the new iPhone 3G ad on TV. As a result, your tool looks tired and so ordinary. Yet, you can’t just jump ship and go out and sign up for another cellular carrier’s two year contract. What to do?
I use a Blackberry 8830 which I find to be very utilitarian. No camera, no fancy ads on TV. It just works but occasionally, I admit that it feels ordinary and un-iPhony. I’m not in a position where I can just pay an early termination fee to drop Verizon and head over to AT&T. Instead, I do the following:
Discover new things that the tool is capable of. I recently learned how to watch TV shows on my Blackberry- very cool!
Dress it up. A silicone skin costs less than two cups of coffee at Dunkin Donuts so head over to Ebay and make a purchase.
Entertain the fantasy of trading. On CraigsList there are countless people in your area who are looking to trade productivity tools. People want planners. They are interested in gadgets. Joe from the next town over is looking for an audio recorder, etc. Check it out and find out who is willing to trade what. If nothing else, it will jog your creativity about tech tools and who knows? Your unsexy gadget just might look new after all.
All of the calendar products for the Do-It-Yourself-ers that I have developed are available for 50% off for the rest of the month. Go to the sales page at e-junkie.com and pick up a DIY Calendar for $3.00!
Let me know what you would like to see in a calendar, and I will be hapy to design something for you, that we can put out to the rest of the world and make lives richer and more satisfying.
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June 25th, 2008 by Stephen
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